Roofing service
Chimney repairs and repointing
Chimneys take the worst of the weather. On exposed West Wales roofs they are often the first detail to show it: wasted pointing, cracked flaunching, open joints in the lead, or a pot that has shifted. Summit Roofing repairs and, where needed, rebuilds chimney stacks as part of wider roofing work or as a job on their own.
What usually fails first
Mortar in the flaunching around the pots cracks and lets water into the stack. Pointing on the exposed faces washes out. Lead soakers and step flashings split or pull away from the brickwork. A hat or pot can become unstable. Any of those can show up as a damp patch on the chimney breast, staining in the loft, or a drip that only appears in wind-driven rain.
Repointing and flaunching
Repointing is not a cosmetic smear of mortar over failed joints. The old, loose material has to come out and a suitable mortar go back in, especially on older brick or stone where a very hard mix can do more harm than good. Flaunching is reformed so that water sheds off the pots rather than sitting against them.
Flashings and the roof junction
A beautifully repointed stack will still leak if the lead at the roof junction is tired. We look at soakers, step flashings, back gutters and any secret gutter behind the stack. Leadwork is its own trade skill and is covered in more detail on the leadwork page; on a chimney job the two usually travel together.
When a rebuild is safer
If the stack is leaning, the brickwork is badly spalled, or earlier repairs have already left it as a patchwork, taking the stack down to a sound line and rebuilding it can be the safer option. That is a bigger job, often with scaffolding, and we will explain why before recommending it.
Related services
Tell us about the roof
A few photographs, your postcode and a short note on what you have noticed is enough for a first response. Based in Llanelli, covering the UK.